ATC grants bail to Imran in four cases

ISLAMABAD - Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad Tuesday granted bail to Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) Imran Khan after he appeared before the court in four terrorism cases registered against him.

ATC judge Sohail Ikram conducted hearing of the cases and accepted bail plea of Imran Khan who is facing charges of destroying properties in the Red Zone, attacking the state TV channel’s building and injuring a senior police officer.

The court granted bail to Chairman PTI against the surety bonds worth of Rs200,000 in each case and also ordered him to cooperate with the investigation and get his statement recorded before the police.

Earlier, the ATC judge had issued non-bailable warrants against Imran Khan after he persistently failed to appear before the court for the hearing. The court had initiated the proceedings for declaring him proclaimed offender.

During the hearing, Imran appeared before the court and through his counsel, surrendered himself before it. The ATC accepted the PTI chairman’s bail for Rs200,000 in each case and deferred the hearing till November 24 for further proceedings.

Talking to the media, Imran reiterated his stance that his party was peacefully protesting in 2014 for transparent elections but a terrorism case was lodged against them.

It was February 3 when an ATC had issued perpetual arrest warrants of Imran Khan and Qadri in the case related to an attack on a senior police officer during the 2014 sit-in protest which has paralyzed Islamabad.

The ATC judge had issued the perpetual arrest warrants after police submitted a report stating that the suspects could not be arrested despite a proclamation being issued.

During the sit-ins in 2014, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asmatullah Junejo was beaten up by protesters on the Constitution Avenue on his first day on the job as SSP Operations of ICT Police.

Later, Secretariat police had registered four cases against several PTI and PAT workers for their alleged involvement in vandalism and attacking SSP Junejo.

The ATC had issued warrants for Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri with directions to the police to produce them before the court. However, police had informed the ATC that the execution of the arrest warrants against the two politicians could not be carried out as they were not found at their residence.

Police also submitted a report before the ATC, saying that a police party had gone to the residence of Imran Khan in Bani Gala where a security guard informed them that Khan was not at home and that he did not know where he was. A similar report was also submitted with regard to PAT Chairman Tahirul Qadri.